HOLY TRINITY COVENTRY

PARISH PROFILE

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BISHOP’S INTRODUCTION

Holy Trinity is an historic and influential parish church in the city of Coventry, with the vicar holding key responsibilities in areas of mission, ministry, education, ecumenical relations, and civic life. I have worked closely with the outgoing incumbent (David Mayhew) to ensure that, along with the Cathedral, the Church of England is not only represented at appropriate meetings but has an initiatory and creative and role in the spiritual and social engagement with the City of Coventry, in partnership with other churches and agencies, including HOPE Coventry.

There is a general recognition, shared by the Dean of Coventry, that it is time to undertake a review of the working relationship and potential partnership emphases of Holy Trinity and the Cathedral, given their close proximity. The new incumbent will have a key contribution to make to these fresh discussions on what mission and ministry may look like for the centre of the City of Coventry (‘Hill Top’), a centre that includes the heart of Coventry University and the Coventry Churches’ Prayer House.

Although a city centre parish with civic responsibilities, Holy Trinity has a range of worship styles and patterns with various congregations, giving it a valuable and welcomed breadth and richness. Its vicar needs to be someone who gains energy from and is stimulated from a wide range of liturgical and more informal worship, holding the balance as necessary. At the same time, the new incumbent will need the capacity and creativity to nurture styles of church life that do not seek to replicate the Cathedral and the discernment to develop sustainable patterns of worship.

Founded by Leofric and Godiva and keyed into the great prayer house of St Mary’s Priory, saved from destruction during the bombing raids by the mercy of God and courage of its war time vicar, and catalyst of spiritual renewal in the city in the latter part of the last century, Holy Trinity has played an extraordinarily significant part in the spiritual history of Coventry. It continues to have a lead role in Christian witness in the city through its part in what I have called elsewhere ‘the new ecumenism’ of the present century but the possibilities for an even greater part in the purposes of God in the future are immense. Let that future begin now.

I commend this post warmly to you.

With my prayers

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DEANERY SUMMARY

Holy Trinity is part of Coventry North Deanery. Deaneries in this Diocese are key strategic structures for mission. Coventry North Deanery includes city centre, UPA, suburban and rural parishes, most of which include areas of deprivation.

There are many younger people in their 20-30s, particularly students within the city centre, and reaching these with the gospel is a target area for both the deanery and the diocese. Almost all church traditions are within the deanery, from evangelical- charismatic to traditionalist-catholic, and including a Pioneer church in the city centre (Urban Hope), and the Cathedral.

We are committed to fulfilling the threefold Diocesan Mission Purpose of Worshipping God, Making New Disciples and Transforming Communities via the 8 Essential Qualities of healthy churches, and we want to work together to both support each other and see God’s Kingdom come in Coventry North. The deanery is seeking to grow churches and to become more missionally sustainable.

We are expectant that God will do great things among us and there is a growing sense in the deanery that building good relationships and sharing best practice will be significant for our growth as a whole. Holy Trinity is a key parish, with an opportunity to contribute to the mission of the deanery and be a resourcing church both in city centre ministry and across the deanery as a whole.

We look forward to welcoming the new incumbent and seeing what God has next for Holy Trinity.

Alison Evans Area Dean

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BACKGROUND TO POST

Holy Trinity is an influential church in the city of Coventry, with the vicar holding key responsibilities in the areas of mission (particularly arising from its city-centre location), ministry (with a wish to serve the poorer more effectively), education (the vicar normally sits on the Board of Governors of a CofE Secondary Academy ), ecumenical (the vicar has an important role in Hope Coventry – an ecumenical gathering of local church leaders) and civic life (co-ordinating with the Bishop and Dean of the Cathedral to ensure the Church of England is represented at appropriate occasions).

The church stands in the centre of Coventry about 100 metres from Coventry’s old and new Cathedrals. The spires of Holy Trinity and the old and new Cathedrals are well-known features of the city of Coventry, in the heart of ‘HillTop’, the name given to this part of the city centre. Together, they are landmarks from which Christian mission and ministry reaches into Coventry and the wider world.

There is a willingness in both churches to identify their unique strengths and play to them, but also to work together more. Various steps have been taken in this direction previously (including by the current Archbishop of Canterbury!), with varying degrees of support and success, but we believe that the current configuration of Cathedral staffing and the appointment of a new vicar for Holy Trinity provides an excellent opportunity to review this relationship afresh together, and their mutual relationship with the city, without sacrificing our respective individualities.

The church has been actively engaging with the 8 Essential Qualities of healthy churches (Natural Church Development – NCD), and has just received its third set of survey results. These show encouraging progress, also reflected in recent numerical growth.

As a church we look forward and seek God’s will for Holy Trinity and its various and diverse congregations. Some common themes have emerged as we have talked and prayed together. We have worked hard under the last incumbent to address weaknesses in effective structures, and have made much progress. We now seek a new leader to carry this positive momentum forward.

The post will become vacant in July 2016 on the retirement of the Reverend David Mayhew, who has given his permission to the patron (Lord Chancellor) for the recruitment process for his successor to begin before his retirement date.

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ROLE SPECIFICATION

The role of this post is to lead the church in fulfilling the Diocesan Mission Purpose of:  Worshipping God  Making New Disciples  Transforming Communities.

This will be achieved by developing 8 essential qualities in the life of the church:

Empowering Leadership Gift-oriented Ministry Passionate Spirituality Inspiring Worship Holistic Small Groups Need-oriented Outreach Loving Relationships Functional Structures

PERSON SPECIFICATION

We welcome a candidate who is committed to the Diocesan Mission Purpose and the 8 Essential Qualities, and who:

 Knows they are loved by God, has a faith rooted in prayer, and has an infectious love of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible, and people from all walks of life.

 Understands the potential of a thriving city-centre church to further build the Kingdom of God in Coventry, is excited by the opportunities offered by its wide range of styles of worship, and is enthusiastic about outreach, social action and ecumenical, educational and civic engagement.

 Is experienced in developing, empowering and working with gifted lay leaders. This experience should have included the development of strategic direction and appropriate structures and processes which can be shown to have led to sustained growth.

 Has experience in the strategic development of small groups to support the life and growth of a large church.

 Is able to contribute with spiritual wisdom to open discussions about developing shared opportunities for Holy Trinity, Coventry Cathedral and the wider HillTop community.

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HOLY TRINITY COVENTRY AND THE DIOCESAN MISSION PURPOSE AND 8 ESSENTIAL QUALITIES

The Mission Purpose of the Diocese of Coventry is:  Worshipping God  Making New Disciples  Transforming Communities

Holy Trinity Coventry is fully committed to fulfilling these three aspects.

We believe that we will achieve this Mission Purpose by developing 8 Essential Qualities in the life of the church.

Empowering Leadership

Holy Trinity Church (HTC) has benefited from strong lay involvement over several decades. Current examples include:

 considerable involvement in leading, preaching, planning and welcome at our various services.  a Messy Church initiative.  youth and children’s work.  nurturing a Youth Band, in addition to the existing choir and music group.

This involvement has provided a good base for service in God's Kingdom, and in some cases has been a key stimulus for people in considering ordination.

However, HTC does tend to focus responsibility and leadership by identifying particular types of confident individuals, rather than creating teams who work together in mutual support. We are still in the learning phase of this, but some progress has been made in creating an administrative leadership team, a preaching and teaching team, and a Ministry Leadership Team (MLT).

The leadership challenges facing us are:  individually and collectively to develop our self-understanding and -practice as a united body in Christ,  to develop leadership in people beyond the “usual suspects” and to identify leadership gifts in the wealth of experience in our whole community,  to give people real responsibility for teams and projects with appropriate accountability, rather than delegating jobs.

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We are aware that all this only grows in the context of good relationships and careful resourcing, and takes time and patience. The new incumbent will play a crucial rôle in strategically developing and modelling this type of leadership culture, and will need to prioritise appropriate time for it to be fruitful.

We have been a training parish for curates but understand that there is no guarantee of this in the future.

Gift-Oriented Ministry

This is our current strongest quality. HTC genuinely wants to help people identify their own unique blend of gifts and skills and then to find ways to serve both inside and outside church.

Many HTC members give love and care both inside and outside of our church community. We have referred to people who help in leadership across the church. Our two Lay Readers are excellent rôle models for using their gifts, both being passionately committed to our church and both also using their very different giftings to serve the wider city. We have an excellent team of servers. Our in-house building team has blessed us over many years with their combined hundreds of years of professional experience and have managed to save the church a significant amount of money! Our varied welcome teams at Sunday sevices and during the week for visitors involve quite an astonishing age range, from children (parentally supervised) through to people in their ninth decade.

The formation and development of Messy Church is a good example of how leadership and other gifts have been developed. The original Messy Church team arose when someone with a vision gathered together a handful of like-minded and committed people who had relevant professional and personal skills and gifts but who were generally not in leading roles in the church. The original initiator then had to leave Coventry, but the team had caught the vision and wanted to move forward. Prayer has been a key part of planning, and the team was guided by both supportive and challenging feedback. Others were also encouraged to take an active part in leading and supporting in some way - preparing the meal, running an activity, supporting the music, monitoring the Facebook page, producing invitations, leading the time of celebration. The team now numbers about 25 people drawn from both main Sunday services, and has also given our young people space to develop their gifts and to play active and responsible rôles in church life.

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So, many people do use their gifts, but we could be much better at helping everyone discover what their gifts are. Our present state has been achieved largely by informal encouragement; we need to develop effective and appropriate ways to help this happen for everyone. We are also aware that we need to be more intentional in delivering training and ongoing support for our volunteers.

Identifying, nurturing and supporting these gifts and skills takes patience, good relationships and training. The new incumbent will help us focus on doing this better throughout the HTC family, so that all are encouraged to discover and use their special gifts to serve both church and city.

Passionate Spirituality

Overall, HTC members express their passionate spirituality through a range of activist and more contemplative approaches. Passionate Spirituality was rated the highest quality in last year's NCD survey but its relative position has dipped somewhat in the most recent survey, as scores for other qualities have risen. We are currently reviewing all of the new NCD results, including this area, and will aim to work out what has changed the position of this area in particular.

HTC has adopted the phrase “A House of Prayer for All” (Mark 11:17) to describe its identity in the middle of Coventry. This shapes our weekday welcome, keeping quiet spaces for many visitors wishing to pray and seek God. Building on this, a Trinitarian prayer cycle has been introduced to the life of the church - 3 short times of prayer incorporated into the daily life of the church building, where all those in the building are invited to “Be still…” and participate in set prayers. Others are encouraged to use a similar structure of prayer during their day. As part of the Community of the Cross of Nails, HTC also uses the Litany of Reconciliation weekly.

Collective prayer life at HTC presents a mixed picture. Some prayer triplets and other small groups undoubtedly enhance the prayer life of those involved, but the monthly church prayer night is poorly attended. A potential opportunity for development of corporate prayer lies in the Coventry Prayer House (a building next to Holy Trinity, run ecumenically) and the new Retreat Centre, particularly as the development of these projects is headed up by one of our members.

For 2 years HTC has taken part in the Diocesan “Retreat in Daily Life” programme, a scheme which seeks to equip Christians with the space and discipline in their daily routine to consider what God is saying to them. 29 people from HTC attended the last two Retreats in 2015. More Retreats are planned this year and we hope people from all our congregations will be blessed.

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An emerging theme is the question of whether progress in our individual and corporate walk with Christ is being inhibited by over-activity rather than learning the “rhythms of grace” (coming to Jesus, walking with him, working with him, resting in him). The scores in Passionate Spirituality suggest that at an individual level, we need to re-engage with Jesus Christ personally, as well as with the Scriptures.

One person has written:

“Over the past few years my faith journey has taken me down the road of a more gentle, contemplative, yet at the same time active and passionate, spirituality. In 2012, following major upheaval in my life, I went on silent retreat at St Beuno’s Jesuit Spirituality Centre in North Wales. I came away with an overwhelming sense of just how loved I was by God, shaping a longing to go deeper and discover more of God’s love for me and others…. ….This deeper awareness of our belovedness seems to be shared by many others in the church and is spilling over into a greater engagement with ‘love-inspired outreach’.

Inspiring Worship

HTC offers seven weekly services, 4 on Sunday and 3 mid-week, in a wide variety of worship styles, from BCP, to robed Choral Eucharist, through to informal worship with music group. There is a small core of members who regularly attend services of the different styles, but most attend only one style of service.

However, the NCD 2016 survey reports this quality area as now being our weakest, again relative to rising scores in other areas, with lowest scores around the quality of sermons and connecting with God during worship. There are clearly people who think that despite our diversity, our worship could be improved! Again, this result needs careful thought and attention.

HTC has had a long choral music tradition, which it continues to nurture and grow. We are extremely grateful for our choir, which not only provides leadership for our 11am Choral Eucharist and 4.30pm Evensong, but also forms a major part of our big Christmas and Easter services. One exciting area of opportunity will be the provision of a new pipe organ. This project is requiring significant drive and determination from some of us but will enhance our worship and support our civic role.

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There is perhaps some feeling outside the church that, with the Cathedral being so close and itself possessing a choral tradition, this style of service could be handed over to the Cathedral and we should concentrate on more informal worship styles. This however is certainly not a view held by those within the church, and indeed, it is our choral Eucharist service which is growing the fastest.

However, we also aspire to develop and practise the best of contemporary music. Our informal 9.30am Sunday service offers an impressive range of opportunities for lay participation and leadership. This service has now established a regular Café church, as a way of making connection to our Messy Church initiative and now also has participation by families new to the faith.

Joint services are held on occasions such as Christmas, Easter and during the summer school holiday period.

A significant feature of unity between the two main Sunday services (Choral Eucharist and informal service) is that they usually share the preacher (and essentially the same sermon). The preaching and teaching team works with the Vicar to coordinate themes and emphases for these sermons, as well as encouraging and developing our preachers.

A considerable amount of youth and childrens' work takes place at HTC, focussed around the two main Sunday services. Until very recently HTC has employed a Youth and Children’s Worker to oversee and resource this wide range of activity and voluntary work. We commissioned a report from ‘THRIVE Youth Ministries’ before pursuing re-appointment. This report is now available (see a link on our website, at http://www.holytrinitycoventry.org.uk/Articles/468114/Holy_Trinity_Church/Life_at_ Holy/Youth_and_Childrens/Thrive_Report/Thrive_Youth_Ministries.aspx and has offered us much encouragement and also considerable food for thought about how to see this work as a strategic priority both pastorally and evangelistically. Over the next few months the youth and childrens' group of the Ministry Leadership Team (MLT) will be planning carefully how to reinforce this.

We also need to keep challenging ourselves about how accessible all our prayer, preaching and worship is to all those who come to our services. As our city changes, and out congregations change with it, this will need continual attention.

Our diversity is both a strength and a weakness! We have to continue to work at our unity in Christ, through honest prayer, committed listening and hard thinking. We have developed our annual APCM meeting to include a combined united service to celebrate our year together with the Lord. We have also grown a scratch church orchestra (of all standards) to play at joint services just before Christmas and at Harvest. The joint service just before Christmas has now become a delightful expression of our belonging together in Christ.

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Our church building (Grade 1 listed), while requiring dedicated attention by our Buildings and Fabrics Committee, is a magnificent setting for regular and occasional services. It also attracts and inspires tens of thousands of mid-week visits each year. Our mid-week welcome team reports that many come in for a few minutes at lunch time or at the same time each day or week for quiet prayer or to be alone with their thoughts, and the three mid-week services provide opportunities to worship for workers, shoppers and visitors in the city.

The new incumbent will need to have experience in leading and developing inspiring worship across this wide range of traditions (including valuing the power of middle-Church Anglican liturgy to inspire) and be spiritually fulfilled and refreshed by all of them!

This is not a solo effort, however, as we have resources in the various related teams (particularly the worship group of the MLT). Our desire is to keep the level of diversity in worship we have as a church, as we believe it is a unique strength.

Holistic Small Groups

Until about 8 years ago, HTC possessed a large and strong network of small groups across the church. For various reasons, including changes of family commitments and general pace of life in leaders and members, sadly only a few groups remain now. These are based around a geographical location or a common interest or background. Although small in number, these groups are strong and offer key support networks, a sense of community and fellowship for their members. Small- group leaders are supported by a coordinator who handles any requests to join a group and ensures good communication between group leaders and church leadership.

However, we recognise that for a church of our size a more strategic approach to small groups is essential.

There are many other regular ‘groups which are small’ which meet across the church – eg Standing Committee, PCC, MLT, Choir, Buildings and Fabric Committee, Finance Committee. All are encouraged to focus on relationships (with God and each other) and mutual support as well as the business in hand.

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During Lent 2016, as part of a theme of “walking with Jesus”, short-term interest-based small groups were formed around a great mixture of activities (crafting, walking, golfing, watching 6 Nations rugby matches, meditation and cooking). Those who were involved got to know each other better and enjoyed sharing interests. These Lent groups represented a much wider cross-section of Sunday and mid-week congregations than the existing small groups and so the MLT pastoral team plans to build on this.

Need-Oriented Outreach

The location of HTC, right in the centre of Coventry, presents both challenges and opportunities for outreach. The 2015 NCD questionnaire rated Need-Oriented Outreach as one of our two weakest qualities, and this is still the case in the latest survey, though the overall score has improved well.

We have many links with other local charities, typically including involvement of HTC people. For example, about 30 years ago, HTC founded Meeting Place (a mid- week evening venue for lonely and disadvantaged people in Coventry to meet and share a meal) and HTC members are still involved though leadership is now shared with other churches. About 5 years ago, young mothers from Coventry city churches (including HTC) started Coffee Tots, a drop-in centre for vulnerable, young parents and their children. This has now developed into a Pioneer Church called Urban Hope, which runs alongside the Coffee Tots café.

In the past HTC has had had a large involvement with Spark in the Park, a summer holiday activity-based outreach week for families, run by a group of Coventry churches. The restart of this activity this year presents exciting opportunities.

Over the last 3 years HTC (especially the incumbent) has been very involved in Hope Coventry (see also “Ecumenical Links” below) in providing an enabling role, including acting as employer for various Hope Coventry staff. The previous incumbent was chair of this group. Church leaders from Hope Coventry regularly gather in front of Holy Trinity for ‘Healing on the Streets’, where they pray for healing for passers by.

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We have tried to work in partnership with other Coventry churches, but this perhaps reduces visibility and impact within our own church community. Internally, we find it difficult as a whole church to think and act strategically in the wider city context. The new vicar will have a role in helping us reflect on how to address this, as a pre-condition to identifying key areas of social action in which we ought to be directly involved.

The PCC has a long-established policy to give 10% of annual income away to local, national, and international charities. This is overseen by our Mission and Donations Committee, which has recently extended its remit by actively publicising supported organisations within HTC, building visibility, prayerfulness, and awareness.

For around 20 years we have run Alpha, approximately twice annually. For much of this time, and until recently, Alpha has been joint with the Cathedral. Alpha has been reasonably productive as a means of bringing people onwards in faith (in 2015, at least 2 people completely new to the faith). However, the number of helpers is limited. Typical Alpha guests are self-referred or referred through clergy- contact, rather than through contact with church members.

Our city-centre location presents opportunities provided by very large numbers of mid-week visitors, often coming with significant spiritual hunger. A challenge is to develop our mid-week welcome to meet their needs further.

Messy Church and Café Church have become the start of an innovative and appreciated pathway to Christian discipleship, in addition to the established routes.

HTC has a rather large fringe attendance, and it is a real challenge to figure out how to develop this. We believe that one of the keys may be to make a deliberate link between evangelism and hospitality. The MLT Mission and Outreach group has noted this as a priority, to find ways for us to be confident in our considerable gifts of gospel-based friendship and Christ-like empathy, rather than feeling disqualified by feeling we don't know enough.

Looking to the future, the population of Coventry is set to continue its very strong growth. In particular, there has been a recent and dramatic increase in numbers of students living in the Parish and city. For the first time in years there are large numbers of people living near HTC. We urgently need to find new ways to engage fruitfully, and to explore HTC's contribution to the very exciting possibilities for the Gospel with this 20s to 30s age group (currently not well represented in HTC). Last year we established a monthly Sunday lunch / bible study group aimed at this age- range. This has resulted in only 4 or 5 people attending (but their attendance is consistent and enthusiastic).

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Strategic leadership looking at our social action responsibilities and in developing appropriate exploring faith and Christian discipleship processes will be another priority for the new vicar.

Loving Relationships

As a church with diverse congregations and worship styles, serving a widely varied parish, and with many cultures in the congregation, maintaining loving relationships is a challenge! There have been varying degrees of success in this area over the years within Holy Trinity itself, as well as with our wider relationships across the city with other churches (including the Cathedral) and organisations.

During the last interregnum, a consultation was undertaken to look at the relationship between the Cathedral and Holy Trinity, given their proximity and the potential for more joint working. The recommendations that were made included the suggestion that consideration be given to more collaboration and coordination between the two. One collaborative initiatives still in place now is that we share the 8am Communion Service on Sundays. Other initiatives have now ceased, including collaboration in running Alpha and a brief arrangement to support a joint youth worker.

Similarity between some services (eg 11am Eucharist at HTC and 10.30am Eucharist services at Cathedral, and clashes in timing between Advent Darkness to Light services) have made some question whether there is an overt and unnecessary duplication and even rivalry! We do not believe this is the case. While we each intend to keep our respective services, there is good will in both churches to find creative suggestions of how better to work together.

Within our Deanery and wider Diocese there is a somewhat mixed perception of Holy Trinity. Although relationships between individuals are generally good, there has been recently some disquiet and disappointment expressed about HTC’s reduction in parish share contribution and the knock-on effect that has had on smaller and poorer churches. This arose from our need to balance our internal budget as a matter of good stewardship, but this has not gone down well. It has been strongly suggested that our parish share contribution is too small for a church of our size. Discussions on this matter are likely to continue for the foreseeable future, but it has definitely affected our relationship with the wider Deanery and Diocese. We are open to seeing how we can improve these relationships, build trust, and how we may even become a resourcing church for the Deanery and Diocese (not just financially).

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Internal relationships are generally loving and work well on a one-to-one basis. There are great kindnesses shown between individuals all the time and we excel as a church family when a crisis hits someone, offering practical help as well as emotional and spiritual support.

In a church with seven differing congregations, however, it is difficult to ensure everyone knows and gets on with everyone else during “normal time”. Inevitable tensions have arisen over the years between different areas of the church, and some of these still leave marks which can result in intense discussions. There is still work needing to be done on reconciling some people from different congregations with each other.

We come together for organised walks, lunches and other events (recently a more regular practice), and there is a clear appreciation of the resulting sense of community. The choir makes regular trips to lead worship at major cathedrals around the country and greatly benefits from the time spent together in this way, as well as from annual trips to the Christmas pantomime and other activities.

It is worth mentioning that we have a wide range of theological and ethical views represented across the congregations, and a growing diversity in cultures.

Functional Structures

The primary oversight structure is the Vicar together with the 4 Wardens and the PCC. The PCC comprises Vicar, Curate (if one is with us), Wardens, 12 elected members (each serving for 3 years), 4 Deanery Synod representatives, Lay Readers, and some co-opted members.

PCC meetings occur once every 2 months. Wardens’ responsibilities are notionally tasked under 4 headings of : Vicar's Warden, Finance, Buildings, and People.

Historically this structure has led to a considerable amount of work for Vicar and Wardens, and also substantial specific responsibilities falling heavily on single individuals charged with dealing with (for example) finance or buildings. In the past this has meant it has been difficult to recruit for these roles, and it has been difficult to have coherent strategic reflection about what the church as a whole is being called to do here and now in the service of the Gospel.

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This history probably explains the identification of “Functional Structures” as one of our two weakest points in the first NCD questionnaire in 2014. It is still a weaker area in the latest survey, though improved over the last two years.

The first NCD results indicated strongly that our structures were getting in the way of growth in the church. A working party addressed the issues. After several months of taking stock, they concluded that a Ministry Leadership Team (MLT) was needed to oversee 4 main areas of ministry, to ensure that they were all working together and seeking God's guidance together as well as separately. The areas are:

 Worship  Pastoral Ministry  Outreach  Youth and Children.

Each area has an assigned leader, and a team.

The MLT is built on relationship, with God and each other, and seeks to plan and develop ways of implementing our vision of “Working with Jesus, Walking with Jesus”, making sure the different ministries work well together, prayerfully presenting ideas for development in church for discussion and approval at PCC, sharing challenges and celebrating success, developing skills and gifts across the church community and communicating well with all.

There is still a long way to go before the MLT is fully established and working at its full potential but the initial signs are positive. We believe that a real difference can be made, and that a complex church like ours can work much better when activities are structured in a more purposeful way.

The immediate challenge for HTC in relation to structures is to articulate better how accountability and authority work out in this network of PCC, Wardens, and MLT and its subordinate teams. The new arrangements need to bed down. We need to work out how to avoid duplication or overlap, establish confidence and transparency, and make space for strategic reflection, discernment and direction.

The church has the following staffing resources:

Paid: Youth & Children’s Worker - full time - post currently vacant Verger - full time Vicar’s Personal Assistant - part time Parish Administrator – part time Director of Music - part time Organist - part time – post currently vacant Children’s Music Assistant– part time

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Volunteer: 4 Churchwardens Treasurer PCC Secretary 2 Readers 1 Safeguarding Officer 1 Children’s Advocate 1 Deputy Leader of Ministry Leadership Team (supporting Vicar as Chair of MLT) 4 Heads of Ministry Streams Administration - 1 part time Honorary verger – 2 days/week Welcome desk coordinator

The new incumbent will benefit from these structures and the various collaborative teams and committees, to work with us in leading and managing the entire range of activity across HTC, whilst also allowing for the development of strategic direction and initiatives, including with the Cathedral and ecumenically. Our unique contribution to the Kingdom of God in Coventry demands that we find ways of making our structures work in the most effective way.

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THE PARISH

History

Holy Trinity Church has a long and eventful story to tell! It was founded early in the 12th century, as a side chapel for the great Benedictine Priory, founded by Earl Leofric and Lady Godiva. It is the largest complete medieval church in Coventry and, at almost cathedral size, one of the largest medieval churches in England.

The church community and its building have seen massive change during their more than 900-year history. Almost destroyed by fire in 1257, the building has been rebuilt, extended, and redecorated to reflect the passage of religious styles and theologies. Many original features still exist, including the medieval font, pulpit and the amazingly well-preserved medieval painting of the Last Judgment. Famously, the church survived the 1940 Coventry Blitz, when so many ancient buildings in the city did not. Over 75 years later, the Parish Church of Coventry remains a symbol of hope and stability in the city centre.

Born out of the need for Christian community for the people of Coventry, the church has survived fire, reformation and war. It has been a place of bustling business, a place of sanctuary, and a place of protest. The church community and its story are still changing, reshaping and growing in diversity and experience.

Today Holy Trinity is home to an active church fellowship which seeks to play a full part in the life of the city-centre. We aim to be a “house of prayer for all” (Mark 11:17) where everyone, regardless of age or background, is welcome and where we seek to walk and work with Jesus.

Location

Holy Trinity is a city-centre Parish in the middle of Coventry, in the West Midlands. It is situated centrally within in the Diocese of Coventry, very close to Coventry Cathedral and the Diocesan Offices in Coventry city centre.

Population

Our parish has a residential population of over 5,000 (5180 in the 2011 census, according to ONS and Church of England statistics), and this number is increasing. It is also worth noting that this number increases greatly during term time, because of the large student population.

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The parish is mostly made up of shops, hotels, pubs, offices and civic buildings. A large percentage of the ‘civic’ city (central shopping complex, Belgrade Theatre, professional offices, health and local authority administration, police and fire services) lies within the Parish boundary, together with part of the rapidly growing campus of Coventry University. Barr’s Hill Comprehensive School, King Henry VIII Independent Day School, Coventry Preparatory School and a number of nursery and pre-school facilities are also within the parish. Dudley Lodge Family Assessment Centre, some sheltered accommodation for the elderly and some almshouses are also within the parish.

The residential component to the Parish comprises mainly high density working class housing, including high rise flats, to the north, and middle class semi- and detached suburbs, to the south. Over recent years, new residential developments have taken place in close proximity to the church (especially student accommodation) and to the south in St. Patrick’s Road and a high quality development (Tudor Court) has been built in Warwick Road opposite King Henry VIII school, also on the south side of the parish.

The area around the Cathedral/Holy Trinity (The Cathedral quarter) has been extensively remodelled to provide a setting for the beautiful buildings, including green space, cafés and tourist information.

The population of the parish is diverse – from wealthy to poor, predominantly white (although not necessarily white British) but with a growing number of Asian, Black and Arab residents (ONS/Church of England statistics – Census 2011).

City Centre Development

Around 15 years ago, a major redevelopment within the city-centre, a large part of which is in close proximity to the church buildings, opened up our north aspect, offering us even greater opportunities for outreach to visitors and tourists.

The Canal Basin (to the north of the Parish), the Lower Precinct shopping area and Broadgate (the City Centre Square) have all been redeveloped in recent years and the area surrounding the Old Grammar School is currently undergoing redevelopment, as is the area of the city between the railway station and the city centre, known as Friargate.

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Buildings

Church Building

The church building is medieval, and situated very close to Coventry Cathedral. It is a major landmark of cathedral proportions in Coventry City Centre with a current seating capacity of approximately 500. There is a small graveyard around the church.

During the last decade, major repair work has been carried out to the Spire and the East end roofs and stonework. Repairs are currently (Spring 2016) being carried out to the West end roofs and stonework. As part of this project we intend to film a virtual tour of the building and upload it to Google. Our electrical distribution boards have been replaced and our old cast iron sectional boiler replaced with modular condensing boilers. We have retained the existing fan convector heaters, though they are now quite old.

Our pipe organ has been replaced with an electronic organ, as a temporary measure until another pipe organ can be installed. The church office has been moved from the Church Centre into the Vicar's Vestry and a Servers' Vestry constructed in the space originally occupied by the pipe organ. The wall painting of the Last Judgement has been conserved and, to protect the painting, humidity control has been added to our boiler control system.

On completion of the current roof works, which are proving more significant than initially thought, the building should be watertight and the stonework in a safe condition.

Repairs have been funded from various grants, the major one being the Heritage Lottery Fund. Our contribution to the grant funding has been provided by the Feoffees (a separate charity that administers a portfolio of share investments on behalf of the Church building) and from the voluntary work contribution of our 'in- house' building team.

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Future Project Proposals

Pipe Organ - We have the opportunity to purchase a Grade 1 listed pipe organ that is currently safely housed in a closed church. We have engaged the services of an eminent organ advisor and have held preliminary discussions with the D.A.C. regarding its location within the church. No decision has yet been made on the location. Funds are available for the purchase of the organ and for the consultant's fees. Further fundraising plus a grant from HLF will be needed to complete the project.

New Toilets - We have requested that our architects design a new toilet block with male, female and disabled facilities. Following a meeting, arranged by the D.A.C. with representatives from various interested bodies, we have produced an options appraisal that investigates a number of solutions. The document was well received by the D.A.C. though Historic England would like more detail.

Catering Facility - Our architects have been requested to design a small catering facility to be located in the Archdeacon's Court area. Initial discussions with the D.A.C. have shown that they will support the proposal.

Fees to date for the toilet and catering projects have been met from the Feoffees' resources. It is hoped that these fees will be recovered as part of a successful grant funding bid.

Locks and Security - Replacement systems are being investigated.

Other ideas - There are further ideas that have yet to reach the stage of firm proposals, including a Church lighting scheme, a Central Dais with automatic rising capability, an Interactive time-line.

Future Issues - Our small in-house work team has given us an essential cost-saving advantage in the schemes we have completed over the past decade, though members of the team are becoming increasingly elderly. The Feoffees' resources are limited and it is essential that we succeed in obtaining grant funding for our future proposals to proceed. There is generally enthusiasm for new projects, though radical changes such as the central dais proposal will meet with some opposition from congregation members.

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The Church Centre

The church centre is housed in the ‘Old Blue Coat School’ building just across from the church. The building has a hall (80 people), and a coffee area (40 people) alongside a well fitted kitchen and also houses a quiet room for the vicar. The top floor is set up as a self- contained flat but is currently used in various ways for meetings and other activities.

All 9.30am youth and children’s work takes place in the church Centre and 9.30am Breakfast is held there every Sunday, as well as PCC meetings, prayer nights, and other meetings. Because of its central location in the city, its rooms are regularly rented by external organisations for various activities.

For the last 3 years, Youth With A Mission (YWAM) has also had a team working from the Old Blue Coat School and they keep very close relationship with Holy Trinity, with the leaders attending services at church every week.

The building is alarmed and meets the disabled safety standards. It has 5 toilets, including two suitable for the disabled, and has a lift.

The church centre is run on a non-profit making basis as a separate charity and is overseen by a management committee made up of Churchwardens (who are the Trustees of the charity, with the Vicar) and members of the congregation.

The long term lease of this building was given in 2000 by the City Council in exchange for the land occupied by our old Church Centre building, which is now Priory Gardens. A sum of money was also given to cover the increased maintenance and running cost expenditure for the new building.

Almost since occupancy there have been problems with roof leaks and slipping roof tiles. The lease agreement was not signed as precise figures for the difference in running cost between the old and new buildings were not determined. The roof problems continue and, despite our persistent requests for resolution, the City Council has stated that it no longer considers it has any obligation for repairs. We have recently (March 2016) taken legal advice on this matter, prior to arranging discussion at PCC and a further meeting with the City Council.

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If we fail in our attempts to make the City Council take responsibility for roof defects at the Church Centre building, we may have to be prepared to end our negotiations over the lease of the building and request to vacate the Old Blue Coat School, negotiating payment of the sum to cover the compulsory purchase of our old church centre. Discussions are still continuing to consider the various options around this issue and are unlikely to be resolved before the new incumbent arrives.

Old Grammar School

The control of and responsibility for the Old Grammar School, a medieval building in the city centre, is vested in a small number of Trustees drawn from the church, but it is a separate charity, with the Vicar of Holy Trinity as its ex-officio chair. The building first served as a friary church and then as a school for boys, and has very recently undergone restoration as part of the £9.5 million Coventry Transport Museum Redevelopment project. The Transport Museum and Herbert Art Gallery now lease the building from us and have responsibility for its renovation, upkeep and maintenance.

Following the reopening of the Old Grammar School this year, the building will open to the public for special events throughout the year and will be available to hire for private events. Holy Trinity has also retained the right to continue to use the building for youth work, in line with its charitable objects.

85 Stoney Road

This has traditionally been a house for curates. In 2013 we converted the garage into a study area, replaced the boiler and installed a ground floor toilet. The house is in good condition, though we may soon wish to replace the kitchen equipment. Repairs are funded by the Feoffees.

The last curate and his family have recently left the property and the Feoffees have agreed an arrangement with Coventry City Council, to use the house to provide temporary accommodation for Syrian Refugees coming to Coventry.

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4 Trinity Court (Cathedral Lanes)

The Feoffees also own a flat built and purchased approximately twenty years ago, within the adjacent Cathedral Lanes shopping complex. This flat was purchased with the intention that it would be occupied by either our youth worker or our verger, though for the last ten years it has been let to tenants. After poor performance from our letting agency we took on the task of letting the flat ourselves. We are in dispute with our current tenant and have had to serve a Section 8 notice to quit the property for making unauthorised alterations and sub- letting. Our solicitor is confident that it will be vacated by the end of May 2016. The flat is administered and repairs paid for by the Feoffees. Decisions about its future await the vacation of the flat.

The Vicarage

The Vicarage, in Bishop’s Walk, is one mile from the church building in a quiet residential area close to the Memorial Park, and almost next door to the Bishop’s house! Approximately 25 years old, it is detached, in a quiet residential cul-de-sac with gardens front and rear. There is a double side- by-side garage, and parking for two cars on the drive. Inside, the ground floor comprises an entrance vestibule leading to a large hallway with dog leg stairs up, large lounge with patio doors to the rear garden, dining room, study, well fitted kitchen with utility room off, and downstairs cloakroom. The first floor has a landing area, four bedrooms (master bedroom with ensuite), and a separate family bathroom with shower.

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Services An example of an average weekly service rota is shown below. We are willing to consider changes to this, although our current desire is to keep the variety on offer.

Sunday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Holy 8am - BCP Communion 1.00pm – 10.30am – 1.00pm – Trinity (hosted on alternate Healing Service “Kindergarten” Lunchbreak Church months at Holy Trinity - BCP Service and the Cathedral) Communion 9.30am – Informal Service worship (staffing shared 11.00am – Service of between Holy Holy Communion Trinity and the 4.30pm – Choral Cathedral) Evensong (term time) or Evening Prayer (school holidays)

In April 2016 there were 177 people on the Electoral Roll, which represents an increase on previous years. However, the average weekly attendance, counted during October 2015, was over 100 more than this.

Joint Services are normally held on significant occasions such as Christmas, Easter and during the summer school holiday period. There is a small core of members who regularly attend services of the differing traditions.

Sunday services

8am Book of Common Prayer (BCP) Holy Communion (said): average congregation of 15. Since 2007 this service has been shared with Coventry Cathedral, using each building in alternate months, as well as sharing the clergy resources across Holy Trinity and the Cathedral.

9.30 am ‘Informal Worship’: average congregation of 55 adults and 30 under 18s. This service is informal in style, innovative and aims to be accessible to young people and families, to newcomers and to those unfamiliar with church. While it is most often a Service of the Word, Communion is held once a month using Eucharistic prayers from Common Worship (CW).

An important ethos of this service is that it is predominantly lay led, with the majority of the leading and around half of the preaching coming from members of the congregation, under the authority of the Vicar. A great benefit from this style of service has been the exercise of a number of gifts in leading and teaching.

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There are children’s groups, which are split according to age (Little Stars: a crèche for under 3s; JAM: for 3s to 6s; Soul Patrol: for 7s to 10s; YUCK: for 11s to 14s) with teaching and activities led by volunteers from the congregation.

The 9.30 service is followed by coffee to link morning congregations, after which “breakfast” is served in the Church Centre for the 9.30 congregation. Both coffee and breakfast offer invaluable times for fellowship and support.

Every six weeks or so, the 9.30 service is replaced by Café Church, which offers a much more informal, interactive environment, with food and drink, craft, discussion and informal worship. Café Church is thriving, having only started in 2014. Most, if not all, of the 9.30 congregation attend Café Church.

11.00 am Holy Communion: average congregation of 90 adults and 20 children, including typically 20 choir members.

This service is in the Anglican eucharistic tradition. A combination of a robed choir led by the Director of Music, and the flowing and familiar words of the liturgy, contribute to providing this service with its distinctive character. It aims to use colour, ceremony and music in a framework of good liturgy, together with preaching on Scripture and doctrine. A growing service, it offers Christian worship which is recognisable to all. It attracts people from a wide variety of backgrounds. The liturgy is presently CW Order Two in Contemporary Language. The majority of civic services are incorporated into this service.

There is considerable lay support for the Vicar in this service, including choir, lesson readers, intercessors and a dedicated team of servers.

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The congregation also reflects the diverse nature of Coventry, as there are now a significant number of regular worshippers of different nationalities and ethnic backgrounds.

Children between the ages of 4 and 17 are welcomed at this service, attending their own teaching group during the sermon and prayers, led by a small number of committed individuals. There are unattended crèche facilities available for parents with babies and young children under 4 years old. Despite these efforts, nonetheless, there remains a challenge to better serve children and families.

Before and after the service, coffee, tea and frequently cake and biscuits are provided, to foster fellowship and support among church members.

Some years ago the specific 11.00 service team was allowed to lapse. The service would now benefit from some careful, informed support.

4.30 pm BCP Choral Evensong: averages a congregation of around 35, including choir members.

It is a BCP service, led variously by Clergy, Readers or officiants authorised by the Vicar. It enables both regular members and visitors to worship quietly in the liturgical framework, taking part in spirit, while also being able to join in singing psalms and hymns; to experience the cycle of the Church's year; to follow connected readings week by week. It is also specially valued by choir members.

There is no sermon but lesson readers make brief comments before beginning each reading.

Sunday Congregation Size

A total of about 215 people attend on a Sunday, with about 30 attending more than once. Congregations at all services represent the cultural, economic and ethnic diversity of Coventry itself. Each of the Sunday services (except Choral evensong) includes a homily, talk or sermon. The age profile of the congregation ranges from birth to over 90 years, though we are least represented in the 20s-30s age range.

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Weekday Services

Tuesday 1.00 pm Healing Service: One of the CW services, alternately with or without Communion, always with a homily. Average congregation is 20 - 25. The non-eucharistic services are lay-led. The prayer ministers are commissioned by the Vicar to anoint, under the Bishop's authority. This congregation includes a significant proportion of vulnerable people. Individual prayer is available after the service, as also are refreshments, which help to promote a family atmosphere.

Wednesday 10.30 am BCP Holy Communion Service (affectionately nicknamed “Kindergarten”): This service, with gradual hymn and sermon, is now attended largely by the retired members of the church, who have formed their own fellowship. The congregation has averaged about 25 over the last year. It is followed by coffee (or sherry when it’s someone’s birthday!), and social fellowship time. This service includes some involvement of the clergy from the Cathedral, but always takes place at Holy Trinity.

Thursday 1.00 pm Lunchbreak Service: a ‘drop-in’ service with coffee available, with an average attendance of c. 25 in the last 12 months. The service has a short time of worship and Bible exposition. The lay leadership is under the authority of the Vicar. This service covers outreach to shoppers/workers in the city centre and includes lunch on special occasions, such as “Shoppers’ Harvest” and Pentecost.

Age of worshipping community

Across the seven regular weekly services, the worshipping community breaks down roughly as follows:

Children (Age 0-10) 34 Young People (Age 11-17) 20 Adults (Age 18-39) 73 Adults (Age 40-69) 103 Aged Over 70 65 Total 295

Messy Church

Messy Church started at Holy Trinity in 2013, and is thriving. Taking place around once every 6 weeks on a Saturday afternoon, church families are encouraged to invite friends and their families along for crafts, games, activities, food and songs. There is also always a short talk.

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This is a purely lay-led initiative, with a committed team from across several congregations, who work to use a relatively inflexible church building in the most imaginative ways they can!

One area of consideration, as we move forward, is whether we ensure good pathways and an excellent welcome into the weekly service patterns at Holy Trinity for those who come to Messy Church, or whether to leave it as a separate congregation itself. This may include a more regular pattern of both Messy Church and Café Church.

Civic Services

There is a growing demand for civic services, e.g. mayoral celebrations, Freemen’s Guild Annual Dedication, ex servicemen/women Associations, Standard-Bearers’ Association, as well as National Health Service and City Council Carol Services, among many others. We believe that this is an important part of our outreach to the city.

Baptisms, Confirmations, Weddings and Funerals

During 2015, the church held 13 Baptisms (including adults), 5 Weddings and 7 Funerals. There were 5 members of Holy Trinity confirmed during this time.

The Baptism and Wedding policies are reasonably strict, although care is taken to respond to each individual situation on its merit.

Baptism preparation has been the responsibility, in recent years, of the Vicar with lay help. We consider all requests for Baptism, whether or not parents are regular church attendees, talk to families about what is involved and will usually offer to approve their request, provided they are willing to commit themselves to Baptism preparation.

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Marriage preparation has been the responsibility, in recent years, of the Vicar and Curate, and uses an online tool, FOCUS, developed for church use to prompt discussion around important issues. We have a policy of careful preparation for marriage. The Vicar and one or more Churchwardens take decisions on the remarriage of divorcees on a case by case basis, having met the couple, and the emphasis is on looking sympathetically at any approach from a divorced person wishing to be remarried. Blessings of marriage are also offered as appropriate.

Funerals are conducted by the Vicar, the Curate or a Reader.

Our Pastoral Ministry team has been developing a follow-up process for families we have met through baptism, weddings and funerals, where cards marking anniversaries are sent, along with invitations to join us for important festivals like Easter and Christmas. This is a development of an existing system run previously by the church office team and has been well received so far, with families attending main Sunday and other services as a result and more long-term connections being established.

Choir Guild

A Choir Guild (comprising the regular adult members of the choir) supports the director of Music by raising funds (including to support choral scholarships for three students), assisting with administration of the choir library and maintenance of vestments, organising social events for both adults and young people in the choir and meeting outside of the usual rehearsal schedule to review the choir’s progress and mission and arrange support for that and for its members.

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School Links

Holy Trinity is the Foundation Parish for Blue Coat School – one of two Church of England secondary academies within the Diocese of Coventry. Although now situated in Terry Road, Coventry, the school began its life in the building adjacent to Holy Trinity Church.

There are two Trusts linking the church and academy. The incumbent holds the ex- officio position on the Board of Trustees for both. One of these Trusts is the Blue Coat Trust which holds the ownership of the current school buildings leased to the academy. There is a modest sum of money available annually to be granted in line with the Charitable Trust.

Like any academy trust, the Blue Coat Academy Trust has members and directors. Within the legally binding Memorandum and Articles of Association, the incumbent of Holy Trinity Church is both a Member and a Director/Governor. Through this involvement the incumbent will be in close relationship with the school, the Headteacher and Chaplain, playing a significant role in the distinctive and inclusive Christian ethos.

Many of the children and young people in our church community attend Blue Coat, so there are many informal family connections too.

We have also had good links with King Henry VIII school in recent years, with Rob Budd, our former curate, having taken assemblies there and forged links with staff.

Traditionally we have had less connection with other schools in the parish, including Barr’s Hill, a large secondary school to the North of the parish. This is an area that we may wish to explore further as part of our developing outreach work.

One area where we do regularly work with schools is to offer guided tours of the church building. Many of the pupils who come to see the church as part of a school trip have no experience of a Christian church and are fascinated to hear of its history and the meaning of the various features of the building.

A hugely rewarding project, called “Choose the Light” was undertaken in 2012, in partnership with Spires Philharmonic Chorus. Several local schools were invited to bring children to see Holy Trinity, and in particular the painting of the Last Judgement, and then write down their reflections and responses to what they had seen. These words were then set to music and performed for the first time in the building in June of that year. It was exciting to form a part of this innovative project, and it was enlightening to see young people’s impressions of our church depicted in this way.

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Ecumenical Links

Coventry Cathedral

As part of the HillTop Community, Holy Trinity and the Cathedral continue to explore their ministries and how they should (and in many cases do) complement each other. As has been described elsewhere, there are still many issues to work out with the Cathedral and the further development of the relationship between the two churches will form an important part of the new incumbent’s work. We are informed that it is being considered whether the Vicar of Holy Trinity should become a Residentiary Canon of the Cathedral. As this is a strong possibility, and because the relationship with the Cathedral is important, the Dean of Coventry Cathedral (the Very Reverend John Witcombe) will be an advisor to the appointment panel.

St John the Baptist

St John Baptist is our other Deanery cluster partner, alongside the Cathedral. They are als0 currently seeking to appoint a new incumbent and this may provide other significant opportunities for collaboration.

Hope Coventry

Our involvement with other churches across the city has grown recently and relationships have deepened and improved, particularly through the Hope Coventry initiative, in which our previous incumbent played a big part.

Hope Coventry’s aim is to to “Grow a connected church that demonstrates the love of Jesus for the benefit of the city”: its strap line is “One Church, One City, One Mission”.

Hope Coventry grew from a small gathering of Coventry church leaders (mainly evangelical) who met in Autumn 2013 and agreed to launch Hope 2014, seeing it as good in itself and a possible vehicle for drawing together the different movements for unity amongst churches in Coventry. Hope has had the wholehearted support of Bishop Christopher from the start.

Hope Coventry, linked with City Praise & Prayer and Coventry Prayer House, has the potential to unite the church in Need-Oriented Evangelism highlighted as Holy Trinity’s minimum factor in our 2015 NCD survey.

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Currently, Holy Trinity has an important role within the management and vision of Hope Coventry:

 We employ on behalf of Hope Coventry:  a debt counsellor (Christians Against Poverty)  a project manager  a project administrator (Coventry Winter Night Shelter)  and have in the past employed our Hope Co-Ordinator

 We contribute £600 a year to Hope Coventry’s core costs.

 A number of HTC members are involved in initiatives that come under the umbrella of Hope Coventry - the Winter Night Shelter, Street Pastors, Healing on the Streets, the annual Pentecost Celebration, Coventry Prayer House.

 The Coventry Prayer House team, in Priory Row cottages previously occupied by Holy Trinity, is led by a member of Holy Trinity.

 The first chair of the Board of Hope Coventry has been our current Vicar.

Hope Coventry is fulfilling the need for an enabling body that can act as a united voice of churches in its relationship to the City Council and other statutory and voluntary agencies, and ensure that city-wide church initiatives are co-ordinated, informed and supported.

This is a great strength but it can also be difficult to fully understand how Holy Trinity (other than the Vicar) can best be involved in this kind of strategic thinking together with other churches, especially when Holy Trinity itself is a fairly complex church made up of several different and distinct congregations already. We need to think carefully and creatively about this issue.

Civic Life

Holy Trinity’s city centre location, history and position as Coventry’s Parish Church means that there are great strengths to our link with the civic life of the City of Coventry. Some of these include:

 The Vicar’s relationship with Bishop Christopher and his commitment to Hope’s vision and Holy Trinity’s place in it. This is especially significant as the church nationally engages with the re-casting of the social contract between church & state in delivering welfare.

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 A longstanding relationship with the City through the Lord Mayor (the Vicar of Holy Trinity is his or her default chaplain) and the City of Coventry Freemen’s Guild.

 Space where people in all kinds of need, including those with significant responsibility in the City, come to find sanctuary.

 Connection with and responsibility for Blue Coat School with its role as a Christian Academy that draws together pupils, families, communities and churches from across the city and has scope therefore for wider partnerships.

 Collaboration with other organisations and agencies, like the City Council, the Freemen’s Guild and the Rotary Club.

 We have enjoyed joint working on city wide celebrations, hosted a multi- faith chaplaincy during the 2012 Olympics, hosted and helped to introduce a Christmas Tree festival in 2015 and much more.

The new incumbent will need to exercise careful strategic judgement, in collaboration with the Bishop and the Dean, in prioritising this extensive array of external relationships!

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Administration

The church office is staffed 4 days a week and was moved from the Church Centre in the Old Blue Coat School to inside the Church building in 2013. This has allowed a better flow of communication and support between clergy, vergers, welcomers, Vicar’s PA and Parish Administrator and a more secure way of working for all.

The church office team comprises the Vicars’ PA, Parish Administrator, and a volunteer administrator. The verger works across the church site and his days off are covered by the honorary verger. A staff team meeting takes place weekly and proves an invaluable tool to support all in their work, not least the vicar.

The office operates as a hub for communication across the church, especially given the number of different congregations and activities that we currently work with. They are responsible for compiling and producing the Monthly newsletter and the weekly information email, which goes out to all those who have email or who are responsible for giving notices at services and other meetings. They are also responsible for updating and maintaining our website – www.holytrinitycoventry.org.uk – which holds information for current church members, those interested in joining and those purely looking for details about the church’s history. The website was completely renewed in 2011 but is now needing attention to ensure it is offering all it can and should.

The Ministry Leadership Team produces 4 editions of The Walk per year, covering areas of ministry, stories and testimonies from church members and important information and reports. The office are key to this work, as they produce the hard copy versions of The Walk and distribute electronic versions.

There is a Communications team who oversee communications work and make recommendations to the PCC and MLT. One current area for consideration is how to make best use of Social Media, as Holy Trinity does not currently have a Twitter account or Facebook page. This is clearly an obvious way of reaching many more people but will need careful managing and maintaining.

Importantly, there is a separate email list for prayer requests and updates. This is run by a volunteer who forwards any requests for prayer on to a list of those who have asked to be included.

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Finance and Stewardship

Please find full 2015 annual finance report at: http://www.holytrinitycoventry.org.uk/Articles/465633/Holy_Trinity_Church/Life_at _Holy/Annual_Meeting/Annual_Report_and.aspx

In the last 2 years we have been encouraged to review our giving (of time and gifts as well as money) as a direct response to what God has done for us. Giving has not traditionally been discussed at HTC. There has been a reluctance to focus on it and perhaps a coyness in preaching about it. This was addressed by seeking to speak clearly about giving, encouraging regular church members to consider renewing their giving and, at the same time, making the Diocesan prayer “Reshape us, good Lord…” part of the regular liturgy. We plan to explore this approach further.

The finance committee and PCC have made good progress over recent years on addressing the underlying financial issues of Holy Trinity and as a result the PCC have seen a small surplus in 2015.

The net surplus before gains on investments increased by £15,605 from a deficit of £9,073 in 2014 to a surplus of £6,532 in 2015, with a net gain on unrestricted funds of £7,706. Income decreased significantly in the year but this was offset by larger reductions in expenditure (for instance, salaried posts remaining vacant).

There was a reduction in our voluntary giving which needs to be set against the success of the gift day in 2014. There was a lower amount of legacies in 2015.

These simple facts actually represent a tremendous amount of work by the Finance committee and Treasurer over a number of years, to ensure HTC’s finances become ordered and sustainable, producing balanced budgets, managing expenditure and maximising income. The Generous Giving team is working hard to ensure that our attitudes to giving develop so that we can build onwards from here.

Parishes are expected to fund the costs of their own ordained ministry. This in effect means paying the full cost of all clergy. Currently the contribution for a vicar with all ancillary costs is approximately £56,500 per annum. Holy Trinity always seeks to pay at least full costs, though there is a feeling in the Deanery and wider Diocese that we should be contributing more to support other poorer parishes.

Clergy expenses are met in full.

A copy of our accounts for the last 3 years is available on request.

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FURTHER DETAILS

Informal expressions of interest and conversations welcome:  Archdeacon Missioner, The Venerable Morris Rodham (07506 731 892, e-mail: [email protected])  Area Dean, the Reverend Alison Evans, (02476 591994, e-mail: [email protected])  Dean of Coventry Cathedral, The Very Reverend John Witcombe (02476 521227, e-mail: [email protected])  HTC Churchwarden, Paul Doggett (07961 889582, [email protected])

Enhanced DBS disclosure is required for this post.

An application form can be downloaded from the Diocesan Website: http://www.dioceseofcoventry.org/vacancies/current_vacancies

Applications to be submitted by noon, Mon 4th Jul Interviews to take place on Tue 19th and Wed 20th July

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